Overview of role

Reporting directly to the General Manager, this is a pivotal leadership role with three direct reports and overall operational responsibility for a team of more than 130 colleagues across a 24/7 manufacturing environment.

You'll lead all site production activities, from raw material intake through to finished goods despatch, ensuring the safe, efficient and effective delivery of our production plan. The operation produces approximately 25,000 tonnes annually across seven manufacturing lines, supplying some of the UK's best-loved cereal and snack brands, including Jordans Granola, Country Crisp and Frusli Bars.

As a key member of the site leadership team, you will play a critical role in creating a high-performing culture where safety, quality, engagement and operational excellence go hand in hand. You'll inspire and develop teams, drive continuous improvement initiatives, and ensure the operation consistently delivers outstanding performance for our customers and consumers.

This role is accountable for achieving key operational and business performance measures, including Health, Safety & Environment, Quality, Hygiene, Production Volumes, Cost Performance (including cost per tonne and material yields), Equipment Efficiency and Manufacturing Sustainability & Advancement (MSA). Through strong leadership and a focus on continuous improvement, you'll help shape the future success of the site while creating an environment where people can thrive and perform at their best.

Key Accountabilities

• Lead a complex 24/7 operation, ensuring effective deployment of people, materials, equipment and processes to maximise efficiency, performance and customer service.
• Champion a proactive culture of health, safety and food safety, ensuring the highest standards are embedded throughout the operation and that policies, processes and behaviours are consistently upheld.
• Ensure full compliance with all relevant legislation, regulatory requirements and ethical standards relating to health and safety, food safety, quality, environmental management and employee relations.
• Partner closely with functional leaders across Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, HR and Finance to drive site performance and deliver business objectives across safety, quality, cost, service and people.
• Work collaboratively with the Site Leadership Team and key stakeholders to deliver sustainable improvements, building on success and embedding best practice across the operation.
• Build organisational capability through robust succession planning, talent development and career progression, ensuring strong leadership pipelines are in place at all levels.
• Foster a culture of Continuous Improvement and Operational Excellence, empowering teams at every level to identify opportunities, solve problems and drive performance improvements.
• Develop and inspire high-performing teams by ensuring employees receive the technical, behavioural and leadership development required to meet both current and future business needs.
• Own the Operations budget, forecasting accurately and delivering agreed financial targets. Proactively identify and manage risks and opportunities while driving cost efficiency and strong cost-per-case performance.
• Use operational data, performance insight and structured problem-solving techniques to support evidence-based decision making, prioritisation and sustainable results.
• Ensure operational risk registers are maintained, reviewed and actioned, with clear accountability and robust mitigation plans that deliver ongoing reductions in operational risk year on year.
• Take overall accountability for inventory performance and stock health, driving continuous improvements in stock accuracy, inventory management and working capital performance.
• Serve as a trusted deputy to the Site General Manager, providing leadership across the site while balancing day-to-day operational performance with longer-term strategic objectives and business priorities.

The Right Person

•    Continually improving the safety and food safety performance across the sites
•    Supporting a culture of continuous improvement with well-established teams
•    Lead cost control and risk management activities through an expectation of high performing culture.
•    Delivery of a balanced scorecard through People leadership and change management particularly on culture change.
•    Expert knowledge of coaching operations teams to perform at their best.
•    Delivering Objectives
•    Managing change and supporting the seamless transition for new activities- i.e. products, recipes, standards, processes, and projects
•    Embed root cause analysis methodology to reduce the non-conformances and incidents within operations to support   continuous performance improvement.

If you share our values... 

Be Bold, Be Curious, Do the Right Thing Together, Make It Happen

We can offer.... 

Competitive salary
Up to 15% bonus
Private Medical Cover - Individual 
Pension Scheme – up to 10% employer contributions
Hybrid & Flexible work culture 
Buy holiday scheme    
Discounted products 
Health Cash Plan
Career opportunities - ABF group employs 128,000 employees worldwide. 
Discounts on over 900 retailers on our discount platform  
Group Cycle to work scheme 
Free Parking